Fg 12 ga loads

[pmwest]

“For most any 12 ga. a load of 3 3/4 drs. of Fg and 1 1/4 oz. of shot will not be too heavy unless the gun is very light, and so loaded, a good 12 ga. properly choked will kill its game just as well as a modern 12 ga. with long range loads.

For lighter work, 3 1/4 drs. and 1 1/8 oz. shot will do very well and of course 3 drs. and 1 oz. will also do a nice job for lighter work like cottontails and quail or for just shooting around for fun.” ~ The Muzzle Loading Shotgun, It's Care and Use ”“ By V. M. Starr

I am looking at these load recommendations and thinking that they are a little reversed from most anything that I have read about shotgun loads. Conventional wisdom is to load with FFg (or FFFg) with less powder, by volume, than shot for best patterns. Starr is advocating using Fg with a little more powder than shot. If I am calculating correctly, using a dipper, 3 ¾ drams would equal a setting of 1 3/8 oz, 3 ¼ drams = 1 ¼ oz, 3 drams = 1 1/8 oz. This would be one click up from the shot setting on the dipper for powder. Anyone ever tried this? I’ve had good success with a thin card system similar to what Starr used but have never tried Fg. Makes logical sense that a longer burn and lower pressures would not upset the shot column as bad so there would not be a need for cushion wads. Thinking about picking up a couple of cans of Fg and go to the patterning board.

 

[longfowler]

yes - I have found this to be true, I do get slightly better shot patterns with Fg than with FFg in my smoothbores.

 

[roundball]

yes - I have found this to be true, I do get slightly better shot patterns with Fg than with FFg in my smoothbores.

That's interesting...I've pattern tested both out of a .62cal GM flint smoothbore barrel and Goex 3F gives better patterns than 2F.

The biggest reason I'm glad that's the case for me is that I've read articles similar to Starr's that talk about 3F being preferred as it had a shorter barrel time due to it's faster ignition speed and burn rate

 

[slowpokebr549]

My experiences with Fg yeilded nice patterns, but really poor penetration. I had to up the powder amount to get the velocity I needed and then the patterns went away. Mind you this is before I started reading this forum and I suspect that I could get a better pattern now. I wonder how long the barrel was on his smoothie. I bet a long barrel would like single f better than my 28" I find it easier to use light loads of 3f myself.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I have a feeling that FFFg might work better in a shorter barrel than FFg and FFG works better in a long barrel than FFFG. All my smooth bores have 42" barrels and like FFg over FFFg and prefer a lighter charge to shot ratio--for example: in a 20 bore 1 1/8 oz. of shot over 2 1/2 drams of FFg.

 

[pmwest]

Wm. Greener, W.C. Scott & Sons, Purdy, Wesley Richards, The Manton Bros., Wm. Moore are some of the makers referenced by Starr. I am assuming that most of these guns were double barrel with barrel lengths between 30-36” and 10-28ga. Starr made some pretty strong statements about powder granulation. This was probably wise advice to use course grain powder in nineteenth century original iron and Damascus barrels because of the lower operating pressures.

I stopped by my local gun shop and got 2 pounds of Fg. I already have some 3/32” cards so I am going to test pattern and penetration this weekend. The gun will be a T/C New Englander. If I have time, I will see what they do on the skeet field.

 

[44-henry]

I've killed a lot of waterfowl with a 12 ga percussion and I've always used 2fg in equal volume of powder and shot. The one time I tried fg I found it lacking in penetration.

 

[bingo1952]

I think you will find that 1f in a twelve is going to do its best work with heavy shot loads of 1-1/4 oz and up. It is better in a 10 ga with 1-5/8 oz of shot. 2f is better in your 12 ga. and that is what I use in mine. You'll get better velocity with 2f because of the faster burn time.